Watch Idris Elba Play a Menacing Tyrant in the Intense Beasts Of No Nation Trailer

Idris Elba is a very nice person — see for yourself in our interview with him — but you wouldn't know it based on his latest role in the Netflix original film Beasts of No Nation.

True Detective's Cary Fukunaga directs the Nigerian civil war drama about a child soldier (Abraham Attah) recruited away from his family to fight. Elba is already getting Oscar buzz for his portrayal of the Commandant, a ruthless warlord who takes the young soldier under his wing, treating him as his own son.

Beasts of No Nation premiered at the Venice Film Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews and will next screen at Toronto. Netflix and Landmark Cinemas will release the film digitally and theatrically on October 16.